Although many people have suffered from allergies as long as they can remember, others are new to this often annoying and, at times, potentially lethal immune response. You can develop an allergy any time, even to something that never used to bother you. A common later-onset allergy is latex. As discussed in the Harvard Men’s….
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Big Tobacco Wins Cigarette Label-Warning Case
The public lost the latest round of safety versus commerce when the federal government gave up its effort to require cigarette manufacturers to include prominent images on cigarette labels warning of the dangers of smoking. As reported last week by the Washington Post, the FDA decided it couldn’t make a court-imposed deadline, and succumbed to….
Continue ReadingSurgeons Advise Against Robotic Surgery for Most Hysterectomies
Sometimes, reality is lost in the love for medical device technology. Just because something’s new doesn’t mean it’s better. A recent statement by the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises caution when it comes to robotic surgery for hysterectomies. Dr. James T. Breeden states, “Robotic surgery is not the only or….
Continue ReadingCourt Secrecy Undermines Usefulness of Product Safety Database
In 2008, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act established a database to enable consumers to report and become informed about hazardous products. The law was a response to product scandals such as toys made in China that contained unsafe levels of lead. Two years ago the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched SaferProducts.gov. It….
Continue ReadingInternal Memos Focus Spotlight on Hip Implant’s Design Flaw
How does a medical device company talk internally about design flaws discovered in a hip implant it is promoting to thousands of surgeons? “We will ultimately need a cup redesign, but the short-term action is manage perceptions.” That’s what one sales official of DePuy, the Johnson & Johnson unit that makes hip implants, wrote in….
Continue ReadingSafely Popping the Cork for Your Next Champagne Toast
Popping the cork on a bottle of Champagne (or other sparkling wine) is a satisfying seasonal ritual. Except when it hits a holiday reveler in the eye. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, (AAO) untold numbers of eye injuries occur each year as a result of a lightning-fast projectile (a cork) meeting an immobile….
Continue ReadingSmoking Still Kills and Tobacco Companies Still Fight the Truth
Although it has many supporters (also known as nicotine addicts), the tobacco industry has few friends. That’s not only because it markets a lethal product, but because of its inability to cop to its health-corroding properties and its history of lying. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use kills more….
Continue ReadingPortable Bed Rails Can Kill or Hurt People They’re Supposed to Protect
Bed rails seem like such a good idea-metal bars installed on beds to help people pull themselves up or get out of bed, and to prevent them from rolling out of bed. But the clamor to make them safer is growing louder because some portable bed rails promoted as a safety device can pose a….
Continue ReadingCongress Will Consider Greater Oversight of Compounding Pharmacies
From the meningitis outbreak, something good may come out of something bad. Earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts introduced a bill in Congress to boost the federal government’s authority to regulate compounding pharmacies. As we’ve been reporting in the last several weeks (most recently last week), compounding pharmacies have been able….
Continue ReadingMonster Energy Has a Monster Problem With Adverse Events
There’s been a lot of news lately about energy drinks, and none of it’s good. We recently wrote about how little is known about their contents, and their link to heart disease and high blood pressure. Now, as reported in the New York Times, five people died in the last three years after drinking Monster….
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